On February 12, the Senate passed, 78-22, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) (S. 47), as amended. The Senate began consideration of the measure on February 7 (see The Source, 2/8/13). The text of S. 47 is available here.
Speaking in support of the legislation, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said, “[VAWA] is a bill that has successfully helped provide lifesaving assistance to hundreds of thousands of women and families, and it is a bill that consistently extends protections to new communities of vulnerable Americans each and every time it has been authorized. [T]here is no reason this critical bill, which has such broad support, should be put on the back burner and delayed further while there are millions of Americans across our country that are excluded from the current law. In fact, for Native and immigrant women, and LGBT individuals, every moment our inclusive legislation to reauthorize VAWA is delayed is another moment they are left without the resources and protection they deserve…VAWA has attained such broad support because it worked. It provides shelter and justice to battered women who need both and it is the cornerstone of our efforts to combat domestic violence. We can’t pick winners and losers on who gets these critical protections, and we cannot afford any further delay, not on this bill.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) spoke in opposition of a specific provision in S. 47, saying, “[T]here has long been bipartisan support for the Violence Against Women Act. Too many women are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence. I support many of the provisions in the majority bill. There are consolidations of grants, cyber stalking, rural programs, assistance for individuals with disabilities, older victims, housing protections, and numerous other provisions I wholeheartedly support. There is overwhelming bipartisan support for 98 percent of what is contained in S. 47…The key stumbling block to enacting a bill at this time is the provision concerning Indian tribal courts. That provision raises serious constitutional questions concerning both the sovereignty of tribal courts and the constitutional rights of defendants who would be tried in those tribal courts…I am confident that if we can reach agreement on these questions, compromises on the other few remaining issues can also be secured, allowing the bill to pass with overwhelming bipartisan support.”
During consideration of the measure, the Senate adopted the following amendments:
